Steve Peoples of the Associated Press reports on the waning influence of the Catholic Church after the legalization of same-sex marriage in Rhode Island. It “marked the Catholic Church’s most significant political defeat in an area where more than 40 percent of the population is Catholic.” Peoples writes, “Perhaps more problematic for the church is that state-by-state setbacks on gay marriage illustrate a widening divide between the church hierarchy and its members that may be undermining Catholic influence in American politics.”